And because I cannot resist previews, I read the one for next week's Countdown.
I'm one of those folks who have enjoyed Countdown, overall. It included characters I already liked (Kyle Rayner) and characters I liked when I was younger (Karate Kid and Una), introduced me to characters I've since grown fond of (Jason Todd), and reintroduced me to characters I might have developed a true nostalgia for if I'd have read more DC as a child (Jimmy Olsen). The storylines varied in quality, but generally didn't all suck at the same time so there was always something readable.
I am, however, starting to find the characterization annoying. If this were Marvel, my theory would be that most of the characters had been replaced by particularly grouchy Skrulls. (It isn't, so it isn't.) But...what happened to suck all the likeability out of everyone? Particularly the Challengers.
Kyle is often portrayed as somewhat immature, but he's always a good guy and he always tries to do the right thing, even when he complains about it. He doesn't let personal feelings affect what he does (although how he feels about it is a different matter). What happened to that?
And Donna! Donna has always been nice. She's the sympathetic one, the shoulder to cry on. She isn't someone who goes around insulting people or being mean. She gives everyone a chance. It's a character flaw!
As for Jason, well, okay, not nice, but also not as portrayed recently. He doesn't want to kill everyone, you know.
Now, it's not necessarily unrealistic to portray these three people as cranky, irritable, and pretty much sick of each other's company. They've been traveling together for how many months? And have spent pretty much all of that time fighting without a break and having to deal with screwed-up alternate versions of themselves and their friends? Presumably they make an occasional stop at a laundromat (one hopes!) or to grab a sandwich, but apart from that, it's been go, go, go. (So yes, Jason would want to get the hell away from the rest of them once he thought he was home. As for why Kyle didn't just pick him up with a quick explanation as soon as they knew something was off, I have no idea.)
However, these are also not people unaccustomed to living under stressful conditions. Irritability, I'll buy. Total personality change, I won't.
Oh, and although I can see the point of those folks who have been surprised that Harley would seek out the Joker when she had supposedly gotten him out of her system, I actually think it was fairly in character for her to seek him out. It was pretty much stated outright in the book that she hadn't dropped her need to connect to an authority figure so much as transferred it to "Athena." And it wouldn't be surprising if--after finding out that the figure she had idolized (Athena) turned out to be evil--she lost confidence in anything positive she had learned at the shelter. But I don't think you even have to rationalize it that much. We've all known someone with an abusive partner who just wouldn't leave, haven't we? Harley certainly wouldn't be the first woman to try to return to a situation that is, at least, familiar.
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